New Telegraph

Poverty: Global Citizen’s campaign raises $2.4bn to end menace

As part of efforts to put an end to extreme poverty, Global Citizen at the 2022 festival campaign said it raised over $2.4 billion in commitments to end the menace. A statement made available to New Telegraph said the six-week campaign concluded with a nine-hour festival across two stages, beginning in Black Star Square in Accra, Ghana, presented by Harith General Partners, and ending in New York City’s Central Park, presented by Citi and Cisco.

The 2022 campaign saw two million actions taken as part of Global Citizen’s mission to End Extreme Poverty NOW, more than doubling the record previously set by the international advocacy organisation.

 

According to the statement, on the Global Citizen Festival, Accra stage, the governments of Ghana and South Africa announced the African Prosperity Fund, a joint initiative, which aims to deploy $1 billion to fund projects for economic inclusion and financial participation across the continent.

The fund will focus on projects in the African Continental Free Trade Area, including infrastructure development, financial access for the participation of women and youth, education, healthcare, technology, and sustainability, all for the benefit of Africa’s 1.3 billion people.

Meanwhile, at the festival in the U.S., members of Congress from both sides of the political aisle stood alongside world leaders, philanthropists, and trailblazers from the private sector to make announcements worthy of the  10-year history of the Global Citizen Festival.

The statement said: “Over a video message, President Emmanuel Macron announced France would reallocate 30 per cent of its Special Drawing Rights to the world’s poorest countries, specifically in Africa, to fight extreme poverty, pandemics, inequalities, and climate change.

“The days leading into the 10th anniversary Global Citizen Festival saw major commitments from world leaders, including Prime Minister Trudeau of Canada and President von der Leyen of the European Commission, who respectively committed CAD $1.209 billion and €715 million at the seventh replenishment of the global fund to fight AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria. “During the Festival, Prime Minister Trudeau and President von der Leyen thanked global citizens for acting.”

Also, the following commitments were pledged at the 2022 Global Citizen Festival in Accra, Ghana and New York City: Investments committed for the future of women and girls included Belgium committing €2.6 million to the ILO’s Global Flagship Programme on Building Social Protection Floors for all for its second phase in Senegal and Burkina Faso, extending until 2025; Denmark, $17 million to UNFPA supplies and $30 million to UNFPA over the next year as part of their broader newly announced three-year partnership; the European Commission, €45 million to UNFPA; Germany, as a champion for global education, €10 million to Education Cannot Wait’s efforts to respond to the education needs in Ukraine, and Luxembourg committed to renew its partnership with the UNFPA-UNICEF joint programme to end female genital mutilation, with a 70 per cent increase of its funding based on previous contributions over the next three years, underlining its support for girls and women around the world.

Others are Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance and Girl Effect announced a $8 million partnership to fight against the gender barriers that limit uptake of HPV and other routine vaccines in Tanzania and Ethiopia.

 

“The Global Menstrual Equity Accelerator was launched with the ambition to advance gender equality for girls and women through a partnership ranging from combating stigmas, increasing the availability of  period products, raising public awareness and education around menstrual health and safe disposal and beyond.

 

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